Nicky's Pizzeria Rustica

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Nicky's Pizzeria Rustica

I was kind of waiting for someone else to start this one, but I guess I'll take a shot at it.

Went on Tuesday around six o'clock, suspecting that the genius of Nick's Crispy Taco could be translated into what we were calling Nick's Crispy Pizza. This, as it would happen, was a bit of a mistake.

Teeny-tiny, with just a few seats. Pizza is by the slice, though there seemed to be an option to get whole pies. There are appetizers, for whatever reason, and beer and wine. Clearly though, this was a slice-oriented visit.

I had previously read that the pizza would be in some sort of "rustica" style, which, honestly, is a little meaningless. Somehow I had some dream of crisp, thin-crust, lightly sauced brilliance. Maybe the Roman-style pizza-by-the-foot. As it turned out, it was pretty much Sicilian style, though the crust played more like focaccia (I swear I tasted rosemary in there somewhere). Large, thick, square slices ($3.50-$4.75, I think). On first inspection, I was, say, not so excited.

I ordered a slice of pancetta and onion, and waited for it to be reheated. It came out, not particularly warm, and I went for it. And was really pretty sad. I would preface by saying that I don't think that there's a lot of room for puffy, thick-crusted pizza in my world. Sure, there's Pinocchio's in Harvard Square...but I'm a NY-style guy at the end of the day. Be this all as it may, this was pretty substandard stuff. Focaccia (of middling quality) with sauce and cheese on it does not a pizza make.

Sorry for the rambling. I haven't done a lot of these. I ended up, by the way, grabbing a taco at Nick's to satisfy the disappointed tummy.

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